B&C Call For Blocks

I did a little Sunday afternoon sewing today, making blocks for Bonnie Olaveson and Camille Roskelley, Moda's fabric designing duo Bonnie & Camille. They are publishing a new book and are asking for blocks made from their fabrics. It's a specific block and there are specific size and color placement requirements. You can find all the details on this Instagram post.

It's a fun little block with so many possible design layouts so I'm excited to see what they do with them. 

These are the four blocks I sent.

Squaring up the half square triangles was fast and easy with my Bloc-Loc ruler!

What are you up to on this Sunday afternoon?

~Sharla

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My Q1 2020 Finish-A-Long Goal List

This year, the 2020 Finish-A-Long goal lists are being posted on Instagram, but I thought I'd share my goals here on my blog also. The deadline to post on Instagram was Sunday, but I'm just now getting around to posting them here. They are in no particular order of importance...

1. Hanky & Doily Quilt: When my mother-in-law passed away last May, she had several hankies and a few other handwork pieces saved in her cedar chest. Unfortunately, most of them were not marked so I don't know if any of them had any significant meaning to her. I decided I'm going to make a quilt with them using 30s fabrics. I've made one block that you can see above. I used a hexagon template to cut my background fabric and placed a little crocheted doily on top of the background. Since I know I will never - and I mean NEVER - get it done if I leave it in hexagons that have to be hand-pieced together, I am making them into rectangles that I can machine piece together. Hopefully it will turn out close to what I have pictured in my mind:)

2. Fence Rail (or is it Rail Fence?) QOV Quilt: I have all the blocks made for this one, I just have to piece them together, border, quilt and bind it. I really need to get this one done.

3. Moda Bake Shop Secret Sewing Project: I am working on a pattern for the Moda Bake Shop so, of course, it's top secret! I am using Stiletto fabric by Basic Grey. I spent the last four days at my mom's birthday sew-in with my mom and aunts, and have the blocks all sewn together now. Just need to border, quilt and bind it and then I'll be sharing it on the Moda Bake Shop blog.

4. A Ribbon Runs Through It Collage Quilt: This was our quilt guild challenge last year and I made two quilts, but I bought fabric for a third to try my hand at a collage quilt. I plan to hand the three together as a triptych in my sewing room.

5. Modern Marks Quilt: OMG, this one has been on my list for a couple of years and it's such a simple quilt. I just need to sit down and finish it! This one will probably be a donation quilt to a local child advocacy group.

6. Quilt Guild Row Quilt Challenge: Ugh, this was my guild challenge 2 or 3 years ago. I haven't worked on it since my mom's birthday sew-in retreat two years ago! I really want to dig this one out and get it finished.

7. Just the Atom Quilt: Again, another project from a couple of years ago. I started these blocks to use as a demo on how to make circle blocks after I made my Moda Bella Solids Challenge quilt. Another one I haven't worked on for a couple of years but want to dig it out and finish it up.

8. Frivols Kindred Quilt: I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but this is another one I haven't worked on for a couple of years. It's not that large of a quilt so I really just need to make myself finish it.

There you have it - a manageable list for the first quarter of 2020. I'd be thrilled to knock the all out, but happy to get a couple finished. How about you? Did you post a goal list for the FAL this quarter? Let's help each other get them done!

~Sharla

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2020 Finish-A-Long - New Decade, New FAL!

The new year has brought new changes to the Finish-A-Long! Although the creator, Rhonda, and her helpers are still putting the final touches on the 2020 FAL, we know there are going to be changes in the way we play along this year.

Don't worry, it will be super easy to participate this year. Participants will post their goal lists and their finishes (just like last year) but it will be done exclusively on Instagram. Participants must use the official hashtags (for Quarter 1 the goal list hashtag is #2020FALQ1List and the Quarter 1 finishes hashtag is #2020FALQ1Finish) when posting either their one goal list by the deadline of the quarter or their multiple finish posts anytime before the end of the quarter. The main difference from last year is that there will be no linking up on the hosts blogs but rather everything will be entered via Instagram and the use of hashtags. If you don't use the hashtags, you aren't officially playing along. 

To help you track your list of projects and their progress, Sandra at Sew of Course has designed a Finish-A-Long planner again for participants. Click here to download the planner. This can be super helpful in tracking your projects and keeping you moving towards finishing your WIPs. 

As always, you can refer to the 2020 Finish-A-Long page posted at the top of my blog for hosts, rules, sponsors and other info at any time. Following the Finish-A-Long's official Facebook (Finish-A-Long) and Instagram (@finishalong) pages will be super helpful for reminders & news too.

I'll pop back in with more details in a few days, but for now, the most important thing to know is that the Q1 goal list deadline is January 19, 2020, so hurry and get those lists posted!

~Sharla

P.S.
What is the Finish-A-Long, you ask? From Rhonda, the founder and creator of the FAL:

The Finish-A-Long started back in 2012 as a way for me to keep track of all the stuff I wasn’t getting done. I was just starting my blog (my podcast was on the horizon) and wanted to “play” with my other blogging friends. A few of my blogging friends, as well as myself, knew online shop owners who were just getting started and were willing to be sponsors. 

Eight years later, it is this wonderful network of people who all work toward the same goal - to finish a project started prior to the beginning of the current quarter. And the bonus….when you finish a project and follow some simple rules, you are entered in a drawing.

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A Ribbon Runs Through It - Quilt 2

Last Saturday, our quilt guild celebrated their 15th Anniversary with a trunk show, luncheon, make & take activity and a quilt challenge exhibit with friends & members, both past & present. The quilt exhibit was our "A Ribbon Runs Through It" challenge. I managed to finish my second quilt for the challenge a couple of days before our big event. WooHoo!

I didn't name this quilt, so I'm just calling it Quilt 2 (so original). For Quilt 2, I made 6" crazy quilt blocks and then drew a couple of flowers and leaves on Steam-A-Seam 2 and fused to the back of the turquoise fabric we were to use in the challenge. I fused the flowers and leaves to the front of my crazy quilt, then stitched the edges down. I saw this idea on Instagram but unfortunately I can't remember who it was to give them appropriate credit.

I quilted pebbles on the crazy quilt background to mute the background and to make the flowers and leaves puff up a bit. It was the first time for me to freehand pebbles and although sometimes it felt like I was a little tipsy with a few too many drinks and my pebbles looked like it too, I thought overall it didn't look too bad. I applied a faced binding to my quilt and added hot-fix crystals to the main flower to add some sparkle. Although I love the quilt, the 'ribbon' effect was lost when it was hung in the exhibit (as you can see below).

I shared my first quilt for this challenge a few months ago and you can click Here to read more about it.

Speaking of the challenge, the rules were quite simple. Each participant was to make an 18" x 36" quilt and given a fat quarter of turquoise fabric that was to enter the quilt on the left side at 3" wide and exit on the right side at 3" wide.

The quilts were hung so that the turquoise fabrics connected at the sides to create a "ribbon" that ran through the quilts. The quilts were grouped into 2 groups - one group was more bright colors and geometrics while the other was more earth-tones and landscapes. The quilts are a little hard to see in the photos because of all the background clutter but really looked neat in person.

All-in-all I think our anniversary celebration was a success. Now I'm looking forward to some other projects and activities on my list - starting this weekend with my mom's annual Birthday Sew-In with all her sisters! Should be a fun time.

~Sharla

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2019 Finish-A-Long Q4 Link-Up

We have reached the end of Quarter 4 of the 2019 Finish-A-Long!!  Of course, this means it is now time to link up those finishes from the list you linked up in October. We hope that you have been able to complete a lot of the UFOs from your list and have had an overall successful year.

The 2019 FAL is hosted by a great community of bloggers. This year our hosts are:

• Marci - Marci Girl Designs - USA Louisiana
• Sandra - Sew of Course - Ireland
• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada
• Ella - Throw a Wench in the Works - USA Georgia
• Karen - Capitola Quilter - USA California
• Lynne - Tinking Along - USA Maryland
• Izzy - Dizzy Quilts - Canada
• Sarah G - Sarah Goer Quilts - USA California
• Sarah Z - Cedar Fork Stitches - USA Montana
• Julie - That’s Sew Julie - USA Iowa
• Sharla - Thistle Thicket Studio - USA Kansas
• Nicole - Handwrought Quilts - Canada

Each finish you link up will be in the draw for great prizes, so let's give a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

Winner's Choice of 1 Large 12 Spool Collection

$80 Gift Certificate

$50 Gift Certificate

$25 Gift Certificate

3 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

2 PDF Patterns

1 Six Month Subscription

2 PDF Patterns

$30 Fabric Voucher

The 2019 Quarter 4 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on all host blogs.

Link-up "Rules":

Add one link for each finish.  If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately.  Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws. 

Please ensure that the photo (Instagram or Flickr) or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the right quarter, too). On Instagram the best way to do that is to tag your photos with #2019FALQ4yourname (where yourname is unique to you), this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your list, which also should have this tag.

Please become part of the FAL community.  Check out the links of others and leave a comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other.  The 2019 FAL Facebook page is HERE and you can follow us on Instagram @finishalong.

Our hosts will also link up their finishes to share in the community but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q4 Finishes link will stay open from now thru 11 pm, EST, Thursday, January 9, 2020 - as we are global, you might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link. You can also see how much time is left below the linked up images on the right.  It is best to link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out.  The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings.  We will post the winners on each host's blog.

2019 Q4 Finishes Link Up:

An InLinkz Link-up